ENG 101 Finding Information Martin J Crabtree MCCC

ENG 101 Finding Information Martin J. Crabtree MCCC Library

Agenda • The College’s Card Catalog • Electronic Searching – Keywords & Boolean Searching • Electronic Databases at Mercer – What’s a database? – Databases available through Mercer Library – Accessing the databases • A few things to consider when using the web

Finding books in the library The online card catalog • The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other material both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries. • You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL) • You will need to have your student ID card to borrow books or use the computer lab

Finding things in the library Library of Congress system • Unlike school and public libraries, the MCCC uses the Library of Congress (LC) system. • The LC is an alphanumeric system – For example: PN 1991. 2. W 65 • You can search for materials by: – – Title Author (last name first) Subject Keyword

Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

Periodicals • Periodicals include: – scholarly journals – newspapers – Magazines • Periodicals represent the bulk of published scholarly information. • The library has a number of periodicals available in print, on microfilm, and especially via electronic databases. • The library staff can help determine if a specific periodical is available from the library.

Searching Electronic Databases …and the web too

Starting An Electronic Search Keywords • Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines • First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example: – Health – Exercise – Diet – Children

Starting An Electronic Search Boolean Searching/Logic • Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms – and – not – or • For example – eagles NOT football – (car or automobile) and exhaust • More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

Searching More Than Just Keywords Phrases & Truncations • To search for a phrase, use quotation marks – “weapons of mass destruction” • Truncations allow for searching related words all at once – The * is usually used. For example: • “child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

What are electronic databases? • A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet • Access to this information is by subscription only, paid by the library. • It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

Electronic Databases In General • Over 60 databases available • Not every article is available full text though many are • Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

Electronic Databases In General • Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network • Most are available off campus, need to request a password. • Can print/e-mail/download articles

Two Specific Databases • Literature Resource Center – Reviews, criticisms, and biographical info on a number of authors and their works. • EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier – Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities – includes both general interest & scholarly/professional journals – Not every article full text – Need Acrobat Reader for some articles

Using Literature Resource Center • Go to Literature Resource Center • Search for: – Frederick Douglass AND – Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass • Note that “Learning to Read and Write” is part of the book The Narrative if the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave.

More Databases • A number of subject specific databases are available covering: – – – business art architecture education more • Also other resources – Encyclopedia Britannica – Oxford English Dictionary – Biographies Plus – Lives of well know people

Searching the World Wide Web How can I find what I want?

Some things to consider when searching the web • Everything is NOT on the web and may never be • No search engine searches the entire web • The “invisible web” is huge!

Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy • Searching the Web is much like database searching: – Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc. • When searching the web, also consider: – Different search engines yield different results. You may want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine – Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc. )

Searching the World Wide Web Search Engines & Meta Sites • Become familiar with your search engines features: – http: //www. infopeople. org/search/chart. html – http: //www. searchengineshowdown. com/features/ – http: //www. lib. berkeley. edu/Teaching. Lib/Guides/Inter net/Search. Engines. html • Meta search sites (like Ask Jeeves, Dogpile): – Allow you to search more than one search engines at once. – Can generate more “stuff” to sift through – Limited to only basic searches, can’t use advanced search features – Some results can be from “paid for listing” search engines

Evaluating Web Information Is this stuff any good?

Evaluating Web Sites • Quality varies greatly from site to site • YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

Five Evaluation Criteria 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. • Accuracy - is it reliable? Authority - is author qualified on subject? Objectivity - is the information biased? Currency - is the information “new” enough? Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic? Search engines may put you out of context, go the home page or the “about us” page to help evaluate the site

The Bottom Line… Buyer Beware • The web contains a vast amount of information…but not everything • Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly • YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good